


Turn to Stone

by AceofDreams



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon compliant until the middle of ep11, Comfort, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, ep12 do not interact, fairgameweek2020, it isn't discussed at large but it does get mentioned, tired clover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23232277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceofDreams/pseuds/AceofDreams
Summary: Day 5: Comfort"Turn to stone, when you coming home? I can't go on"In another world, Salem never attacked Atlas, never showed up in Ironwood's office. Instead of arresting them, Ironwood cut ties with RWBY and their allies, demanding that they leave Atlas. Two weeks later, Qrow and the kids are attempting to recover in Patch when unexpected company arrives.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, mentioned Blake Belladona/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 19
Kudos: 135





	Turn to Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Quick explanation of what's different from canon: Salem didn’t appear in Ironwood’s office or attack, Ironwood didn’t go into martial law, he cut ties with team RWBY instead of arresting them, Clover and Qrow didn’t fight, Qrow just flew off.

Was it really alright to take break when the world was still in danger? It didn’t feel right, but he deserved a break, didn’t he? He had spent years fighting, spent the last two weeks...

Qrow curled up, sinking deeper into the couch cushions, ignoring the concerned glance Yang shot his way.

It had been two weeks since Ironwood announced he was breaking ties with team RWBY and their allies. Two weeks since Clover had relayed the message to him in the transport, his voice heavy. Qrow wanted to say that the man seemed only a few steps away from tearing up, that there was some emotion under the surface, but he honestly didn’t know anymore. Two weeks of constantly replaying the scene had likely allowed for his mind to twist it, alternating between the idea that Clover felt regret for what he was doing and the idea that maybe Clover had never cared at all. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had felt that way about him.

How had Clover felt about him? There had been weeks of winks, of shared glances, of soft conversations. Qrow had begun to think that meant something to Clover, had begun to let it mean something to him. For the first time in decades, Qrow had begun to imagine what it would be like to be loved. Admittedly it was a bit of a jump from playful flirting to love, but it was hard to resist when Clover looked at him so warmly. Clover had appeared when he needed him most, a welcome distraction from thoughts of drinking. He had been a new light in the darkness of Qrow’s mind, already shining alongside his nieces. Was it really all over?

Qrow let out a groan, squishing his face into a nearby pillow. He heard Yang sigh from the other end of the couch.

“Everything alright, Uncle Qrow?”

He nodded, not moving his face from the pillow.

“You want to talk about it?”

He pulled his head back just far enough to reply. “No offense, firecracker, but I’ve never wanted to talk about something less than this.”

He didn’t need to look to know that Yang was rolling her eyes.

“Would this happen to have anything to do with Clover?”

His head shot up at that, blush spreading across his face as he saw Yang’s smug smile.

The young woman laughed, scooting over to be next to him. “I’m not blind, you know.” Her face turned serious and she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can talk to me. It’s not good to keep these things bottled up.”

Qrow scowled, clutching the pillow to his chest and resting his chin on top of it. “Talking about it won’t solve it. What happened happened. If we ever see the Ace-Ops again, it likely won’t be on good terms.”

From the look on Yang’s face, she likely hadn’t been expecting the bitterness of his words, but it was all he had to give. He couldn’t let himself hope for some sort of happy ending. Someone like him would never get one of those.

Yang fell quiet for a minute before letting out a deep sigh. “You know, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when I saw Blake again. I wasn’t really sure I’d get to see her again in the first place.” Yang’s words were soft as she stared down at her arm. “I was angry with her for a while. I thought she had abandoned us, as if she didn’t even care about the bonds we had formed up until that point. I couldn’t understand why she’d run away, so I didn’t try to. I let myself stay angry because it was easier to assume the worst. It felt easier to move forward without letting myself hope.”

“Yang, I—“

She held up her hand and Qrow trailed off.

“I was wrong, of course. Blake wasn’t trying to abandon us; she was trying to protect us, in her own way. I don’t agree with her decision, but I understand it now. She felt responsible for everything that had happened and to her, it followed that if she left, maybe bad things wouldn’t happen to us anymore.” She looked Qrow in the eyes. “You and her are more similar than you realize.”

Qrow swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He wanted to tell Yang that she was wrong, that Blake’s fears were unfounded while his were a fact of life, but he knew she wouldn’t hear it. Instead, he opted to avoid the topic altogether.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more.”

“Don’t be.” Yang shook her head, a sad smile on her face. “You were where you needed to be. Besides,” she cracked a grin, “I had Dad and I don’t think I could’ve handled having both of you around at the same time.”

Qrow laughed, with only a slight tinge of pain behind it. Him and Tai hadn’t exactly had the best of relationships for a while now, but they were getting there. The man had pulled him aside earlier in the week to talk about his newfound sobriety, and it was honestly the friendliest conversation they’d had in years.

“Listen, I just...” Yang sighed. “You’re allowed to hope, and you’re allowed to want to see the good in others. I don’t know what happened when we had to leave Atlas, but I know you and Clover were close, and...” She trailed off, hesitant. “Whatever you saw in him before, it’s still there. Even if it doesn’t feel that way right now.”

Qrow’s eyes dropped. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to think like that. But for now... “When did you go and get mature, firecracker? Pretty sure you were still in diapers yesterday.” He let go of the pillow with one hand, raising it as if going to ruffle Yang’s hair.

She quickly knocked it away, sending him a glare without any heat behind it. “I’ve been told that time flies once you’re older, so I’m not surprised to hear that you think that way.”

“You calling me old?” Qrow gasped in mock offense.

“The oldest,” Yang shot back.

He had barely opened his mouth to give a witty retort when Blake burst through the door, Jaune right behind her.

“Plane, there’s a plane!” Jaune yelled, slightly out of breath.

“It’s Atlesian,” Blake quickly filled in, her eyes wide. “Landed not far from here. We don’t have long.”

“What?” Yang shot up, sharing a look of confusion with Qrow. “They followed us?”

Qrow dropped the pillow and stood up. “That doesn’t make sense. James wanted us out of the kingdom and we left. What the hell could they gain from coming all the way out here?” He clenched his fists. “What more do they want from us?”

“Where’s everyone else?” Jaune asked, glancing around the empty house as if he thought someone else might pop out into the open.

“Weiss, Ruby, Ren, and Nora went into town, Dad’s at Signal, and Maria and Oscar are out on a walk.” Yang frowned. “We can’t expect any help before the military gets here.”

“Later is better than never,” Blake responded. “We might not be able to run, but we can put up a fight.”

The four of them looked at each other before gathering their weapons.

“If we’re lucky, maybe it’ll just be some Atlesian Knights,” Jaune whispered, as they took up positions near the front door.

“And if we’re not—“ Blake began, stopping short as she noticed Qrow glaring at her. Her cat ears flattened as she smiled apologetically. “Right, no jinxing it.”

Qrow froze, recognizing the soft sounds of footsteps nearby. He held up a hand to signal to the others, mentally cursing himself for not having transformed earlier and scouted the area. His Clover funk had cost them a chance to know who they were dealing with ahead of time.

He held his breath as he heard someone knocking on the door, gentle yet firm. Probably not an Atlesian knight then. He drew Harbinger and waited.

There was another set of knocks followed by silence, then quiet whispers.

Qrow was about to suggest they make the first move when the door suddenly shot off of its hinges with a bang, sliding to a stop next to him.

“Saluuuutations!”

He had shot forward immediately, and it took all of his skill to stop mid-strike as he took in the girl in front of him.

There was no mistaking Penny Polendina. She had a wide smile on her face, only dropping it when she noticed the four huntsman and huntressses with their weapons aimed at her. She looked down at the door and then back at them, her smile popping back into place.

“My apologies! I am stronger than I realize!”

She continued to smile, waiting as they lowered their weapons.

Qrow glanced at Yang who merely offered a shrug. Penny’s creation might’ve happened under Ironwood’s direction, but from what he’d seen, the girl was no mindless puppet. He wasn’t sure how or why she had found her way out here, but it didn’t seem like it had even crossed her mind that they might be wary of her.

“May we enter?” Penny asked brightly.

“We?” Yang tensed up again, arm still at the ready.

That was right, he’d heard someone talking before. Qrow supposed it could have been Pietro, but his wheelchair seemed a bit too conspicuous to have moved that quietly.

Qrow nodded at Penny and she beamed at him before reaching out to pick up someone just out of view.

Even if he hadn’t expected it to happen, there were many ways Qrow had imagined for how his reunion with Clover could occur. In some, they met on the battlefield, two sides that just couldn’t come to an agreement and were forced to duel until only one was standing. In others it was heartfelt, straight out of a dream, where they needed no words. There was also some where they chose not to acknowledge each other, holding onto a feeling of numbness. One way he had certainly not imagined the reunion would happen, however, was for Clover Ebi, captain of the Ace-Ops, to enter Tai’s house thrown over the shoulder of Penny Polendina, who was carrying him as if he were just a sack of potatoes.

Judging from Clover’s face, he hadn’t been expecting this either. The man seemed a bit too shocked to protest as Penny marched to a couch and placed him down gently. She sat down next to him, folding her hands in her lap. “We have so much to tell you about!”

Blake and Jaune lowered their weapons and hesitantly made their way to the opposite couch. Yang looked over at him, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Clover. Qrow shook his head slightly and she nodded, moving to claim a seat next to Blake.

Qrow choose a spot leaning against the nearest wall, not bothering to hide his staring.

Clover looked...tired, to say the least. There were shadows under his eyes and his normal, perfect posture was gone as he sunk into his seat, now gripping the pillow that Qrow had abandoned. There seemed to be streaks of gray in his hair that Qrow swore hadn’t been there two weeks ago. He looked like a wounded animal, like he would make a break for it at the first sign of danger. As Qrow stared at him, Clover’s eyes rose and time seemed to stop as they stared at each other. Clover broke contact just as quickly as he had initiated it, leaving Qrow feeling unsettled. What had become of Clover Ebi?

“Will the others be joining us soon?” Penny asked.

Blake shook her head. “Ruby and the others probably won’t be back for at least a few hours.”

“Oh...” Penny’s face fell slightly. “I suppose I’ll just have to explain again when they return. A lot has happened in Atlas since you’ve left. I...” She trailed off, closing her eyes. When she spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper. “I received the powers of the Winter maiden.”

“What?” Qrow pushed off of the wall. “You’re a maiden now?”

Penny nodded, her eyes glued to her hands. “Cinder went after the maiden. Winter and I barely managed to fight her off and then...” She took a deep breath. “And then Fria, the winter maiden, gave me her powers.”

“You’re a maiden...” Yang whispered, her eyes wide.

“Then how are you here?” Qrow asked. “There’s no way Ironwood would let you out of his sight willingly.” Part of him wanted to add ‘without a babysitter’ to the end of his statement, but right now Clover looked like the one who needed someone checking up on him.

“He didn’t.” Penny’s voice was firm now, a hint of pride just beneath the surface. “I didn’t agree with the general’s choices, especially the one to send all of you away. I decided I wanted to make my own choices, but I wasn’t sure what to do until I caught Captain Ebi stealing a ship.” Her chipper voice didn’t quite match her words.

“ _You_ stole a ship?” Qrow stared at Clover, his mouth hanging open.

Clover pulled his eyes upward, not quite looking at Qrow. “If I remember correctly, I met all of you because you did the same thing.” His voice was soft, as if he didn’t trust his own words.

“In case you’ve forgotten, none of us are Atlesian military.” Qrow replied, raising an eyebrow.

Clover finally looked at him, giving a sad smile. “At this point, neither am I.”

“I’m sorry, can we go back to the stealing a ship part?” Jaune leaned forward. “What exactly happened?”

Clover sighed, rubbing at the space between his eyes before sitting up and gently placing his pillow off to the side. As if flipping a switch, he seemed to step back into the role of a confident leader.

“The situation in Atlas continued to deteriorate after you all left. We defeated Cinder and her accomplice, but we were unable to capture them. Ironwood is...not in a good state right now, though I guess you could argue he hasn’t been in a good state for a while now. After the attack, it was like he became a different person entirely. I trusted James with my life, but...” He sighed. “I can no longer believe his decisions are what’s truly best. He was talking about raising Atlas with the staff, taking us so high that Salem couldn’t reach us, even if it meant leaving the other kingdoms to die.” Clover’s eyes darted over to Qrow. “That’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

He let the words linger for a few seconds before continuing. “I didn’t really have a plan beyond finding all of you, but I got lucky and ran into Penny when I was about to leave.”

“Ironwood cannot access the staff without me,” Penny added. “As long as I’m here with you guys, he won’t be able to lift Atlas into the atmosphere.”

“Then... should we expect him to come after you?” Blake asked, her voice nervous.

“If everything I set up pans out, we should have several days before Ironwood realizes where Penny is, but...yes.” Clover nodded glumly. “I don’t know if he can get away with sending a large force, but he will undoubtedly attempt to regain Penny.”

“I guess we’re pushing up our travel plans then,” Yang sighed. “Can’t really stick around here much longer.”

“We need to tell everyone else as soon as possible,” Jaune said, standing up. “I’ll see if I can find Oscar and Maria.”

Yang nodded. “Blake, Penny, and I can head into town.”

Ah, so that was happening now. Under any other circumstances Qrow might have been embarrassed to find his niece intentionally leaving him alone with Clover, but right now he was too fried to feel anything of the sort.

The teens quickly filed out of the house, leaving Qrow and Clover in an awkward silence. Finally, Qrow cleared his throat.

“Must’ve been a long flight from Atlas. I have a room upstairs if you want to rest.” He made his way to the stairs, checking that Clover was following him before heading up.

Qrow held the door open for Clover, shutting it behind himself afterwards.

Clover had once again lost his confident demeanor. He stood in the middle of the room awkwardly and Qrow found himself wondering what was going through the former Ace-Op’s mind. His answer came rather quickly as Clover surged forward, wrapping him in a tight hug.

Qrow was temporarily frozen in surprise and it took him several seconds to return the gesture, wrapping his arms around Clover.

“I was worried about you.” Clover’s voice was soft against his ear.

“Oh, think I can’t function without you, lucky charm?” The joke didn’t feel quite right, even without getting into how he’d spent the past two weeks sadly pining, but he was desperate to cheer Clover up.

Clover sighed, pulling back just enough to look Qrow in the eyes.

For a second, Qrow thought he had forgotten how to breathe. The voice in the back of his mind that had spent the past two weeks, and most of his time in Atlas, telling him that Clover surely would never be interested in him was suddenly snuffed out. They were close enough for Qrow to feel Clover’s breath, close enough for him to cross the gap in less than a second if he wanted to. And seeing Clover look at him as if he was something precious... It was enough to make a man feel birdbrained.

“When James told me his plan to raise Atlas, all I could think about was you.” Clover’s hand moved to cup Qrow’s cheek. “It had hurt to have to send you off like that, but at least there was the possibility of seeing you again. But if Atlas was raised then... I didn’t want to live with that.”

Qrow broke out of his stupor to lean into Clover’s touch. “Still, are you sure about going against James? You’ve been in the military for years; it can’t be easy to leave that life behind.”

Clover shrugged. “It’s not hard to leave it behind when there’s a better life waiting for you elsewhere.”

Looking back, Qrow really wasn’t sure who had moved first. Maybe it was him, maybe it was Clover, maybe it was both of them at the same time. But what he was sure of, was that there was something undeniably right about the feeling of Clover Ebi’s lips against his own.

It was a short kiss, and while Qrow hoped that he’d kiss Clover for an extended period in the future, he found the brevity to be fitting for the current situation.

“So, are we a thing now?” Qrow waggled his eyebrows, drawing a slight groan from Clover, who rolled his eyes at him.

“I... I thought about you a lot too.” The words spill out quickly, as he fought the urge to stay silent, to lock all of his feelings away. Qrow took a deep breath, Clover staring at him patiently. Clover had risked so much to get to Patch, he deserved to hear this. “I kept wondering if maybe I had just imagined what was happening between us. I wanted to talk to you, to be close to you so badly, but I honestly never thought I’d be lucky enough to see you again, especially not like this.”

Clover broke away from him slightly, gently pulling him so that they sat side by side on the edge of the bed. He tugged Qrow’s head onto his shoulder before wrapping his arm around the man’s side.

“Well, I hope that first part has been cleared up by now.” He laughed, shaking Qrow’s head slightly with the motion. “Though I thought I made it pretty obvious from the start.”

Qrow smiled, snuggling in closer. “Oh, you did. It’s pretty hard not to notice when someone’s that much of a show-off.”

“You do realize I only do that for you, right?” Clover was smiling.

“I did catch onto that, yes, though you staring me down as you posed dramatically with a Grimm right behind you on a crashing plane also made that pretty clear.”

“I mean, it did impress you, didn’t it?”

Qrow laughed, though he found himself unable to reply as he thought about all that had happened that night. Looking up at Clover, he could tell he wasn’t alone in that.

“If I could, I’d go back and do things differently,” Clover finally said.

Qrow sat up with a sigh, turning to properly face him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I should have gone with you,” Clover pressed. “Instead of standing there like a dope while you, um...” He waved his hand. “Left.”

“Last time I checked, only one of us can turn into a bird,” Qrow replied. “It was easier for me to go it alone.”

Clover shook his head. “Then I could’ve taken control of the ship. I could’ve done something to help you.”

“And you also could’ve done something to hinder me. James declared we weren’t welcome in Atlas anymore; you could’ve tried to make sure I didn’t come back. Besides, Atlas needed someone like you when everything was falling apart.” He reached out and booped Clover on the nose. “You got the winter maiden out of Atlas, you got yourself here now. That’s what matters.”

Clover blinked at him wearily. “Qrow, I...” He trailed off, letting out a large yawn.

“You need to rest.” Qrow stood up, offering a hand to Clover.

As he let himself be pulled up, Clover gave a quiet laugh. “Isn’t that usually my line?”

“It is,” Qrow replied, pulling Clover to the side of the bed, “but I’m borrowing it for now.”

Clover gave him a lazy smirk as he laid down on the bed. “You know, I’m thinking you could use some rest too.”

Qrow stuck out his tongue as he tossed a blanket onto Clover’s face. “Don’t you ever get tired of being so transparent?” He moved to the other side of the bed, plopping himself down in a way that bounced Clover slightly.

Clover pulled the blanket off of his face, spreading it over the two of them. “Not when it works,” he answered with a wink.

Qrow let out a groan before wrapping his arms around Clover and pulling himself closer.

It wouldn’t be long before the kids came back, and they had to face the problems at hand. The future promised more danger and a world in need of saving, but for now, they would rest.


End file.
